Stolovan in Space
by ember960
Summary: Far in the distant future the human race lives in the stars in many colonies. It is the duty of Diplomats and Defense Officers to police these colonies. Clyde Donovan is one of these Diplomats and is about to be assigned a new Defense Officer . .


**A/N** - Hi there - this is my first fanfiction EVER published - so please . . be gentle *blush*

I often have strange Alternate Universe daydreams - but this one really struck me as an interesting story . .

A note on Diplomats and Defense Officers: They are basically the police of the future, except Diplomats deal more with documents and speaking (like lawyers/officials/politicians etc) while Defense Officers are more there to back their diplomats up with action (like bodyguards/SWAT/soldiers etc)

haha don't ask me how I came up with the idea I was quite sleep deprived at the time

**1. New D.O.**

Clyde ran his finger over the empty taco wrapper on the table, desperately trying to pick up any leftover crumbs. He had tried to savor it but it had gone too fast.

Why did organic food have to cost so much in orbit as compared to gravity-side? Stupid transportation costs. He could have had one of the pre-packed freeze-dried tacos like normal people in orbit, and he did eat that stuff usually, but not tacos. Clyde was a taco perfectionist. He had to have them right. A taco-fectionist . .

He could get cheaper tacos with more fresh organic ingredients gravity-side on the planets surface but that was a good couple of hours away on the fastest shuttle and he just didn't have the time. Time and money. It always seemed to come down to that.

If Craig was here with him, Clyde thought, he knew exactly what he would do, he'd say 'fuck it' and tell their superiors some cock and bull story about a dying aunt. They'd jump the next shuttle to New Colorado, or whatever the closest city was and spent the day eating tacos and seeing the sights.

But Craig wasn't here and he was just going to have to get used to that fact. They'd been working as partners in the Colonial Regulations Bureau for just under two years. Clyde was a trained Diplomat and Craig had been the first Defense Officer assigned to him. They worked together so well, Clyde thought, they made a great team and became fast friends. Best friends even.

So naturally Clyde felt a bit down about Craig being reassigned. I mean he should feel happy for his friend, right? He had been promoted. Craig had sat the agent exam and, despite his personal record, he had passed and was now a Solo Agent. No need for a partner. It was something he had always wanted, but Clyde couldn't decide if this was the best or the worst thing considering Craig's underlying dislike of authority. He laughed slightly at this thought.

So now he needed a new partner, which is why he was sitting in Meeting Room 502 aboard the Colonial Regulations Bureau HQ satellite that was orbiting Thetis. Thetis was a class 2 human-based colonial planet, one of many scattered around the galaxy, it was slightly larger than the ancient home planet of Earth, the land masses all large, but separate, islands, populated with a mix of large cities and many farms. More cities could be found on the three large moons that orbited Thetis, along with many huge satellites that could almost count as small cities themselves, including the CRB HQ, aboard which Clyde was sitting, waiting for his new Defense Officer to arrive.

He wasn't the only one waiting for a new Defense Officer today. Clyde had seen his friend Token earlier that day, met him for a coffee along with Craig in one of the cafeteria districts. They were all pretty close friends now, having worked or studied together. Clyde knew Token from Academy.

Token was the best Diplomat he knew. He was tall and had deep brown eyes that were sharp and focused, noticing everything, and the way he spoke, well when he spoke, people listened, and did what they were told, which was kinda the point of being a Diplomat.

As a Diplomat, you studied the law, history and justice of the human race colonies. You travelled around, perhaps sticking to one colony sector for a period of time, but occasionally traveling out to isolated colonies. Diplomats upheld the Word, the law and regulation of the colonies and their people. They have the power to research, observe and make decisions on the behalf of the Human government. Diplomats are always received with mixed feelings, some citizens believe in what they are doing and are glad they are doing all they can to make space safe for the human race. Some, however, dislike their methods, and they will usually tell them, often violently. Unfortunately these are the ones Diplomats have to deal with the most, and while they do have basic combat training, they need to focus more on their responsibility to the Word. Which is why Diplomats are paired with Defense Officers. Defense Officers are highly trained combat agents, their main purpose is to protect their Diplomat and allow them to carry out the Word by any means necessary. They were basically highly trained bodyguards, but Clyde liked to think they were equal partners, at least that's how he had felt with Craig.

Being a Diplomat was a highly regarded position, most Diplomats were from rich, powerful, influential families, like Token. In fact, it was because Token was from such an influential family that he was in the same position as Clyde at that point, sitting in some meeting room somewhere, waiting for his new Defense Officer. Being a Diplomat and from the prestigious Black family made Token quite the target for disgruntled citizens, and it was for this reason he had lost his previous Defense Officer. He hadn't been promoted like Clyde's, no, he had gone the same way as the two before him, dead in the line of duty. Clyde shuddered, poor Token, he thought, he can't imagine what it would be like losing three partners in the line of duty in under two years, fourth time lucky then? The top brass loved Token, he was pretty much a poster boy for Diplomats, staying strong in the face of tragedy, though Clyde knew Token well enough that he could guess under the stoic outside appearance, Token carried the weight of each loss. He wondered what Token was thinking right now?

Clyde had come from a background that wasn't quite as rich and powerful as Token's, but he hadn't needed a scholarship to get into the Academy at least. Although he always wondered how he had managed to graduate, even now, two years later. The words he spoke weren't honey and gold like Token's, sometimes he couldn't even find the right words and would just make something up on the spot. He also didn't have the ice cool demeanor that every Diplomat was supposed to have, I mean, he tried, but sometimes he couldn't help dropping the facade, and getting frustrated with himself for it would just worsen the situation. And when he got frustrated, well, it was happening right now. As he was thinking of his two best friends, how Craig had been promoted, and how amazing and professional Token was at his job, he couldn't help but feel inadequate, left behind, and he could feel the familiar lump in his throat and his eyes began to sting.

'Shit, not now' he thought fighting back his stupid tears 'I can't meet my new partner in tears, that's NOT how a Diplomat acts'

In an act of desperation, Clyde crumpled up the taco packet into a ball and bit down. He breathed slowly out, and felt himself calming down. He sat there for a few minutes just breathing, his eyes closed, his teeth just holding the wrapper in his mouth.

Then his eyes shot open when he realised how strange he looked. He spat the wrapper out and just in time too, as the wrapper bounced on the table, the door opened and his new Defense Officer walked in.

Clyde's eyes widened, mostly in shock and embarrassment from almost being caught crying and then biting down on a taco wrapper, but also so he could take in this young man's appearance.

He seemed to be the same age as Clyde, but taller and much slimmer. His dark black hair was just a bit longer than Clyde's and straight with a slight wave at the end. He looked at Clyde, who was still staring, his eyes deep brown, and seemingly asiatic in shape. His expression was composed, but Clyde could see a shimmer of curiosity run across it. Defense Officers were trained to show even less emotion than Diplomats, that way the citizens being dealt with wouldn't think they could look to the DO's for assistance or sympathy, but rather the other way round. The Defense Officers job was to intimidate and impress, that way citizens would be more willing to co-operate with the Diplomat. That was the theory anyway. And right now, standing tall in his sleek uniform, this Defense Officer was certainly impressive.

He stepped into the room, with the grace that Defense Officers obtain from years of physical training, and casually shut the door behind him.

"Hi" he said "My name is Kevin Stoley, I have been assigned to be your new Defense Officer"

Clyde picked his jaw up from off of the floor.

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